Teaching in Umbria

Umbrian Landscape
(watercolor)
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Tomorrow I leave for Umbria to teach for two weeks at LaRomita Art School.  I have 17 people going on the trip!

It should be fun and very exciting.  I've never taught abroad before so packing has been a challenge.  Since some of my students are doing oil and some are doing watercolor, I've got to bring both sets of art supplies. 

I'm going to try something new while I'm gone.  I'm going to try and post from Italy.  So hopefully, you will be seeing what we do each day.  I'll take pictures of everyone's paintings and put a few up each day.  

We leave tomorrow at 5:30 pm and arrive in Rome at 8:30 am.

Then we are picked up from the airport and head about 2 hours northeast to Terni where the school is located.  

So stay tuned for our exciting adventure in Italy.

Hillside Homes of Umbria
(oil)
by Jane McElvany Coonce

The Ultimate Compliment

watercolor by Kate Fandetti

Today I received the ultimate compliment.  I received an email from Kate Fandetti, one of my students from a cruise to the Baltic that we took  last summer.  She wrote:

" I hope you remember me - I took your wonderful classes on the Baltic Cruise last summer.  I am totally hooked and am enjoying learning and reading and experimenting!  Here are a few things I've done recently.....just wanted to share as you were the one that turned me on to watercolor!!"

I can't tell you how much that meant to me.  Being a teacher is a fantastic job, but it is even more fantastic when you get feedback about how you made a difference.  I love teaching on the cruise ships and although I only teach for an hour, I try to make it fun and also successful for each artist.

I am so proud of Kate.  She has accomplished so much in a short time.  And I also thank Kate for sharing her sentiments with me.  She made my day!

Juried into Mayhem Show

Saigon Traffic
by Jane McElvany Coonce

The Gallery Underground along with the Arlington Artists Alliance sponsored a juried show entitled "Mayhem."  I had taken a photograph in Saigon that I thought would be perfect.  I was on the bus looking out the window and the traffic looked like mayhem to me.  Lots of mopeds and a few cars sprinkled in for good measure.

So I did this painting from my reference photos.  The jurying took place on Sunday.  The juror was Mark Cameron Boyd, adjunct professor at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. It was a national show with artists submitting from all over the country.   178 paintings were submitted, and he only picked 31.  I was one of the fortunate 31.

The show starts April 28 and runs through May31. I feel quite honored to be part of the show.  It will be interesting to see the other artists' interpretation of Mayhem.

"Body of Work" show opens this Friday, April 4

Under the Street Lamp
by Jane McElvany Coonce

I have another reception I'd like to invite you to.   "Body of Work"  is a show where each artist in the gallery showcases a series that they are working on.  My series is "Night Scenes," and I have 5 paintings in the show.  "Under the Street Lamp" is a large oil painting, 30 inches x 30 inches.  It depicts a meeting of two people on a rainy night with a dog as the chaperone.  All the paintings I will be showing will be of night scenes or twilight scenes.  I haven't seen the show yet, but I hear it looks beautiful.  All the paintings will be grouped together so that you get the impact of the series.  Each artist has their own series so it should be interesting to see what everyone has focused on.

The show hangs for the month of April at the Gallery Underground in Crystal City.
The reception is Friday night, April 4 (my birthday!) from 5 - 8 pm.  I'll be there, so come party with me!